ONE of the blackest days of the year came in February as more than 1,100 shocked workers at SR Technics in Dublin Airport heard that the Swiss company was to close the aircraft maintenance facility down. An SR Technics worker of 18 years has described the awful moment that the company's CEO broke the devastating news that the Dublin Airport operation was to be shut down.

'I never saw the hangar so quiet in all the time I've been here - everyone was just devastated,' the SR Technics employee said. Some workers thought there might be redundancies or pay-cuts on the cards but according to this worker at the company, ' nobody expected closure'.

Answering allegations that the company's move to closure was 'premeditated', SR Technics said that it had been exploring 'all possibilities' for the company in the months running up to the closure. Marco Imboden, head of marketing and communications for the company said: 'As soon as we reached the conclusion that there was no other way but to go but to close the plant we made the announcement and started the consultation period.' In March, shock had turned to rage and angry workers at SR Technics spilled onto the streets in their hundreds in protest as many of them faced their last week at the plant. An angry Swords worker that has spent more than 30 years toiling for the company was among the protestors and said that SR Technics is not treating its workforce with 'any respect or fairness at all'. Sean Brannigan told the Fingal Independent: 'They are just trying to get rid of us and take all the work for themselves for Zurich and everybody is angry about that - they are not treating us with any respect or fairness at all.'

Pat Keating, an SR Technics worker from Loughshinny who was one of many workers from the area joining a mass protest against the proposed 1,135 job losses at the plant. Pat had worked for the

company since 1980 and said he faced an uncertain future as he raises his young family in the north Fingal village of Loughshinny.

He said: ' We are a pretty young workforce and have young families and it's a huge knock-on effect for the local communities in North Dublin like Skerries, Rush, Loughshinny and all those areas - there are a huge amount of people from those areas working here.'

Martin Doolin from nearby Lusk has seen it all at the plant over his 40 years of dedicated service. Now that it's all coming to an end, he said: 'It was the best job I ever had - I'm devastated, absolutely devastated.'

Bids began to emerge over the coming weeks for different elements of the business, including a proposed buy-out by workers which was backed by unions. Local managers also put in a bid for the business as 30 expressions of interest were forwarded to the Government, SRT and the IDA. By May, the Government and the Swiss company were coming in for fierce criticism over the lumbering process and an attempt by the company to ship some of its assets abroad.

Siptu branch organiser, Pat Ward, accused the Government of ' paralysis and lack of political will when it comes to saving jobs in the aviation sector'.

Trouble was brewing among those left without a job at the plant as they came to realise that their pensions were in serious jeopardy after the company refused to bridge a € 26 million gap in the company's pension fund.

That issue was taken up by a group of ex-SRT workers and found its way to Europe, where their campaign was backed by Labour MEP, Prionsias de Rossa.

Ultimately it was a bid from Dublin Aerospace Ltd, run by ex-Ryanair executive, Conor McCarthy, that won the bid for four crucial elements of the SRT business and promised to secure up to 250 jobs at the plant.

The plant is still making headlines and in December, a deal with Aer Lingus and the DAA secured the future of Hangar Six and 96 SRT employees transferred to the airline.

A lot of outstanding issues remain for those who lost their jobs at the plant and the campaign for SRT to honour its pension commitments continues.